July 6, 2011

Murder, My Sweet

Data
Title: Murder, My Sweet
Year: 1944
Length: 95 minutes
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Writer: John Paxton, based on a novel by Raymond Chandler
Starring: Dick Powell
With: Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Miles Mander, Douglas Walton, Donald Douglas, Ralf Harolde, Esther Howard
Cinematography: Harry J. Wild
Music: Roy Webb
I saw it: on video (rented from Greencine), a few days ago
Synopsis: a private detective's client is murdered

My reaction
Concept:3/4 (Good)
Story:2/4 (Indifferent) A meandering, hard-to-follow mess. That's exactly what it's meant to be, but whatever.
Characters:2/4 (Indifferent) I like Powell's Marlowe better than Bogart's Marlowe, but neither of them really gets it right. Marlowe's personality is what holds this book together, but there's very little of it in the movie. The other characters are just plot devices.
Dialog:4/4 (Great)
Pacing:3/4 (Good) Kind of fast - not much time for atmosphere.
Cinematography:3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design:3/4 (Good)
Acting:3/4 (Good)
Music:2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4 (Indifferent)). It's all very nice and noir-y, but there's nothing really memorable to it - nothing that's not better in the book.
Objective Rating (Average):2.7/4 (Good)

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